A report published in the Jan. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report estimates that getting a flu vaccine this season reduced a person’s risk of having to go to the doctor because of flu by 23% among people of all ages.

For the second week, influenza-like activity tracked above the national baseline, according to the Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, indicating that this year's season is officially underway. The trajectory of illness rates are tracking ahead of the past two years, which suggests this season has the potential to be a severe season.

A team of scientists, led by researchers at the Wistar Institute, has identified a possible explanation for why middle-aged adults were hit especially hard by the H1N1 influenza virus during the 2013-14 influenza season.

A report published Friday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report characterized the 2013-2014 influenza season as the first season since 2009 that H1N1 generated fewer levels of outpatient illness and mortality as compared with seasons when influenza A (H3N2) is predominant.

Flu is at the top of the list of diseases older adults plan to ask about, according to results from a new Harris Interactive consumer awareness survey, sponsored by Merck. Most of the more than 600 surveyed adults age 60 years and older are at least somewhat likely to ask their healthcare professional about preventing the flu this year, and are significantly more likely to ask about this than prevention of such other potentially serious diseases as shingles.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Protein Sciences' Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology.

Humidity may be the common denominator to help explain why flu viruses are most prevalent during the winter months in temperate climates like the United States and most prevalent during the rainy season in many tropical regions close to the equator, according to a study released Tuesday by Virginia Tech researchers.

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SPECIAL REPORTS

Pharmacy’s battle for recognition continues

Fifty years ago this summer, President Lyndon B. Johnson secured his place in history by signing into law the legislation that created Medicare and Medicaid. To commemorate the anniversary, Drug Store News has put together an exclusive report on the effect that Medicare and Medicaid have had on the retail pharmacy industry and how it has transformed the role of the pharmacist. more...

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